This poignant email from Dr Mads Gilbert, the Norwegian doctor and supporter of the boycott of Israel, strikes at the heart of humanity.

Dearest friends –
The last night was extreme. The “ground invasion” of Gaza resulted in scores and carloads with maimed, torn apart, bleeding, shivering, dying – all sorts of injured Palestinians, all ages, all civilians, all innocent.
The heroes in the ambulances and in all of Gaza’s hospitals are working 12-24hrs shifts, grey from fatigue and inhuman workloads (without payment all in Shifa for the last 4 months), they care, triage, try to understand the incomprehensible chaos of bodies, sizes, limbs, walking, not walking, breathing, not breathing, bleeding, not bleeding humans. HUMANS!
Now, once more treated like animals by “the most moral army in the world” (sic!).
My respect for the wounded is endless, in their contained determination in the midst of pain, agony and shock; my admiration for the staff and volunteers is endless, my closeness to the Palestinian “sumud” gives me strength, although in glimpses I just want to scream, hold someone tight, cry, smell the skin and hair of the warm child, covered in blood, protect ourselves in an endless embrace – but we cannot afford that, nor can they.
Ashy grey faces – Oh NO! not one more load of tens of maimed and bleeding, we still have lakes of blood on the floor in the ER, piles of dripping, blood-soaked bandages to clear out – oh – the cleaners, everywhere, swiftly shovelling the blood and discarded tissues, hair, clothes,cannulas – the leftovers from death – all taken away…to be prepared again, to be repeated all over. More then 100 cases came to Shifa last 24 hrs. enough for a large well trained hospital with everything, but here – almost nothing: electricity, water, disposables, drugs, OR-tables, instruments, monitors – all rusted and as if taken from museums of yesterdays hospitals.But they do not complain, these heroes. They get on with it, like warriors, head on, enormous resolute.t

And as I write these words to you, alone, on a bed, my tears flows, the warm but useless tears of pain and grief, of anger and fear. This is not happening!
An then, just now, the orchestra of the Israeli war-machine starts its gruesome symphony again, just now: salvos of artillery from the navy boats just down on the shores, the roaring F16, the sickening drones (Arabic ‘Zennanis’, the hummers), and the cluttering Apaches. So much made and paid in and by US.
Mr. Obama – do you have a heart?
I invite you – spend one night – just one night – with us in Shifa. Disguised as a cleaner, maybe.
I am convinced, 100%, it would change history.
Nobody with a heart AND power could ever walk away from a night in Shifa without being determined to end the slaughter of the Palestinian people.
But the heartless and merciless have done their calculations and planned another “dahyia” onslaught on Gaza.
The rivers of blood will keep running the coming night. I can hear they have tuned their instruments of death.
Please. Do what you can. This, THIS cannot continue.
Mads
Gaza, Occupied Palestine

Conference welcomes the visit to the Occupied Palestinian Territory by a delegation of Executive and non-Executive members in October 2013, and the strengthening of links between the National Union of Teachers and the General Union of Palestinian Teachers.

Conference notes the ongoing oppressive and unjust regime imposed by the state of Israel on the Palestinian people and is especially concerned at the impact on young people and their families.

Conference endorses the following demands and calls on the British Government to actively pursue these objectives:

1. The dismantling of the 700 Kilometre long Wall condemned by the International Court of Justice in July 2004;

2. The ending of all illegal settlements which now control 42.7% of the West Bank (UN figures);

3. The ending of all moves to cut East Jerusalem off from the West Bank​ through a process of settlement expansion and the demolition of Palestinian homes;

6. The ending of the inhuman treatment of Palestinian Child Prisoners as documented by Defence for Children International/Palestine Section;

7. The rescinding of the Government’s Prawer Plan to destroy Bedouin villages inside Israel and forceably transfer the people out of their established villages; and

8. The right of the Palestinians inside Israel to develop a curriculum which preserves their heritage and ends discrimination in education.

Conference reaffirms its commitment to campaigning in solidarity with the Palestinians in their struggle for peace and justice and calls on the Executive to distribute the report of the 2013 delegation as widely as possible publicising it through the Teacher and all appropriate Union channels.

Conference instructs the Executive to:

i. Support TUC policy, to “boycott the goods of, companies who profit from illegal settlements, the Occupation and the construction of the Wall”;

ii. Pressure the UK Government to call on the Israeli Government to comply with international law and human rights treaties;

iii. Work to win the backing of Education International and the ETUC(E) for these policies and to seek to collaborate with like minded unions internationally;

iv. Convey these views to the Israeli Teachers Union;

v. Express our solidarity with the GUPT for its objectives for education and discuss with them ways to develop this solidarity;

vi. Call for an end to the discrimination against Palestinian students and teachers within Israel;

vii. Encourage divisions to make links with Palestinian teachers and schools including organising delegation exchanges;

viii. Encourage Associations, Schools and Divisions to publicise the report of the delegation to members; invite speakers to their meetings and encourage active membership participation in work on this issue;

ix. Organise a special meeting for Division representatives and International Solidarity Officers to present the report, explain Union policy, outlining ways to develop the work and incorporate regular updates in Divisional Secretaries briefings and school representatives training; and

x. Continue to campaign for the rights of Palestinian children including child prisoners and work to engage all members in this campaign encouraging individual membership of and affiliation to the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and support for Action for Palestinian Children Prisoners.

Amendments

31.1 (Buckinghamshire) to move,

​ ​(Kirklees) to second:

Conference instructs the Executive:

Add new point:

xi. Educate the membership through publications, divisions and international solidarity officers of the ‘Pinkwashing’ propaganda used by Israel to make their citizens and the wider world believe that they are progressive in respect of LGBT rights, while distracting attention away from the human rights abuses they have instigated by their occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

Peter Tatchell added his name to a letter supporting boycott, divestment and sanctions against the State of Israel and protesting Israel’s PR tactic of “pinkwashing”, ie, presenting itself as a progressive democratic state on account of supposedly gay-friendly policies. This is a re-blog of the letter, as it was published originally in February, 2012.

Dear Editor,

February brings events marking Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender History Month, and London will host this summer’s WorldPride Festival, four decades on from the Gay Liberation Front’s first Gay Pride events. Simultaneous and overlapping with the civil rights, anti-apartheid and Women’s Liberation movements, GLF also drew inspiration from the national liberation struggles of people freeing themselves from colonialism. The LGBT rights we now celebrate originate in the groundbreaking work of that era.

How ironic it would be if, in an attempt to gain a veneer of respectability by promoting itself as a liberal, tolerant haven for gay people and a prime gay holiday destination, an oppressive regime which routinely violates human rights, practises institutional racism and dispossesses an indigenous population tried to co-opt that progress.

As long-term advocates of LGBT and women’s rights, some of whom created the first Gay Pride events, we wish to express our concern at the cynical hijacking of those rights by Israel’s ‘pinkwashing’ PR campaign. The specious freedoms enjoyed by some Israeli gay people and visitors to Tel Aviv’s nightclubs bear no more relation to real equality than did the privileges accorded white people during South African apartheid. Pinkwashing tries to divert attention from the untold suffering caused by Israel’s subjection of the Palestinians to siege, bombardment, military occupation, ethnic cleansing, land theft, settler violence, killings (180 in 2011 alone), imprisonment, forced exile, the crushing of economic, educational and social infrastructure and denial of legitimate aspirations to self-determination.

We write in solidarity with Palestinian LGBT and civil society organisations who initiated the burgeoning global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement to bring pressure to bear upon Israel until it complies with international law, and endorse their insistence on the universality of human rights. We invite all who share our abhorrence of Israel’s persecution of the Palestinians to observe the boycott of Israeli tourism and goods, and hope that LGBT people encountering pinkwashing will take pride in remembering the roots of our campaigning history and support the Palestinian quest for justice.

The Norwegian YMCA-YWCA and YMCA-YWCA Global hope this non-violent instrument can contribute to a solution with a just peace for both parties. God created all people in his image, equal in dignity – and that human dignity is violated now daily in the Palestinian territories.

Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers – and we must try to help – with the non-violent means available. The peace movement on both sides need our active solidarity.

Tung. Debate about Israel and Palestine experienced in many Christian organizations and churches as heavy and difficult. Many people choose to leave it. Secretary General of the Association of YWCA (World YWCA) reminded us recently that “Silence is also a statement.” To let the debate remain basically means accepting the status quo.

We will not accept the status quo in Palestine and Israel. Both Israelis and Palestinians have a right to self-determination within internationally recognized borders, in recognition of its elected leadership and just peace with security for the civilian population.

Israel’s rights must be maintained, but the occupation of Palestine is unacceptable. Because a long series of UN resolutions and negotiations for decades have not yielded results, we believe it is now appropriate to initiate economic boycott of Israel to put increased pressure on the authorities to follow up UN resolutions to end the occupation.

We encourage broad economic boycott of products from Israel, Israeli settlements and from companies that actively participate in the occupation.

Non-violence. YMCA-YWCA Global has over the last 40 years working closely with the YMCA and YWCA of Palestine. YWCA and YMCA are important community of Christian Palestinians, they have a heavy social commitment and strengthens young people in struggle and faith in justice and peace – only using non-violent means.

We are distressed when we see how the Palestinians constantly subjected to undignified treatment. We understand that they get angry when they lose access to the land they cultivate, as they struggle with water shortages while settlers on the hill have more than enough, when children must be accompanied by companions to school to be protected from harassment, when soldiers suddenly close all the checkpoint and many youth loses a teaching or a doctor’s appointment. Or if they encounter a wall growing up in the neighborhood and they do not know whether their house will stand.

Rights on the Israeli side also violated as a result of the conflict. We understand that Israeli families are weary and despairing of living in fear of rockets and suicide bombs. We understand that they seek to create security for themselves and their families.

Sin. We are humble when we see the YWCA and YMCA youth searching for ways to achieve justice and equal living conditions, without resorting to violence. We want to strengthen and support their involvement.

In 2009, we faced a challenge from church leaders and laity in Bethlehem authored “A Moment of Truth – Kairos Palestine”. The authors declare clearly that the military occupation is a sin against God and man, and express strongly that a theology which defends the occupation is far from Christian teachings.

They believe true Christian theology challenge to solidarity with the oppressed, and the love that is reflected in action. They defend the Palestinians’ right and duty to participate in non-violent resistance to injustice they suffer from. Specifically, we were on a theological basis, encouraged to join the creative and non-violent resistance, specified as involvement in economic boycott of everything produced as part of the occupation and withdrawal of investments in such purposes.

Wide boycott. We advocate a broad economic boycott both because it is impossible for consumers to know if a product is manufactured in the occupied territories or not, and because the purchase of Israeli products or investments in Israeli companies contribute financially to the occupation that Israel is responsible for .

It is important to recognize that a conflict has multiple pages. As a church we are challenged to take sides with those who suffer most and who do we speak for yourselves. The Israeli government has a superior military force and is occupying. Palestinian authorities and the civilian population carries a variety of offending and violent acts, but they are currently the weakest party. This gives Israel the primary responsibility to end the occupation and restore justice and peace.

Legally. Whilst negotiations are attempted for many laps, Israel’s position has become stronger. An economic boycott is a strong but legal and non-violent means. We encourage organizations, churches and individuals to support our position. This position is really held in love, both for Israelis and Palestinians.

In this screenshot on Instagram from 4 days ago (2/18/2014), Madonna promotes the Palestinian made film Omar. Though Madonna played in apartheid Israel in 2012, maybe she has had time to think about how boycotting Israel is a #revolutionoflove.

While the media is going viral over the logical conclusion that Ms. Johansson should not continue as an official global ambassador for the charity Oxfam, the Official Twitter for Apartheid Israel has already claimed her as the face of Israel.

Two of Israel’s Embassies have resorted to using Neil’s Young’s planned concert in the apartheid state to musicwash its tarnished image. Here are two screenshots of Israel’s Canadian Embassy Twitter and also the Israel Embassy in Washington DC. An open letter has already been circulated, asking the champion defender of indigenous people’s rights in Canada, to cancel his gig and boycott Israel. His show is already set for Hayarkon Park, Tel Aviv, Israel, on July 17, 2014 in a show entitled “The Past, the Present and The Future with Neil Young and Crazy Horse.”

Truly, Young’s efforts to protect first nation people’s land would ring hollow if he chooses to play in violation of the boycott call by millions of Palestinians.

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Israel commits crime of apartheid: "Inhumane acts of a character similar to other crimes against humanity "committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other racial group or groups and committed with the intention of maintaining that regime."